Hand-operated addressing-machine.



I. H. OVERMAN& I. A. ZIEGLER. HAND OPERATED ADDRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13. IBM- RENEWED FEB. 7. l9 l8- 1,%60,708. Patented Mar; 26, 1918.

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J. H. OVERMAN 611. A. ZIEGLER. HAND OPERATED ADDRESSING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13. 1913. RENEWED FEB. 7.1918.

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Patented Mar. 26 1918.

acaw 9+1. aawz J. H. OVERMAN 64 I. A. ZIEGLER; HAND OPERATED ADDRESSING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, I913- RENEWED FEB. 7. I918. 1,260,703, Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

5 S HEET 3.

J. H. OVERMAN & J. A. ZIEGLER.

HAND OPERATED ADDRESSING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE13, 1913. RENEWEDVFEB- 7. 191a.

Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

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Jews JYOoyermal J 22111.2 285%? J. H. OVERMAN & J. A. ZIEGLER.

HAND OPERATED ADDRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1'3. 1913. RENEWED FEB- 7. 1918.

1,260,703. Patented Mar. 26,1918.

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JESSE H. ovnniuAn Ann JORAM A. ZIEGLER, or onerirsnooeii, rnmvnssnn, nssrenons TO MONTAGUE MAILINGMACHINERY G0,,

.5. CORPORATION OF TENNESSEE iin tn-ornnernnADnnnssIive-iimon ivn i Specification of Iietters latent. Patented 26, 1918,

Application filedJune 13,1913, Serial No. 773,563. Renewed February 7, 1918. Serial Noi 215,925.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, Jnssn H. .OVERMAN and JORAM AJZIEGLER, bothfcitizens of the United- States, residing at Chattanooga,

Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hand'Operated Adi dressing-Machines, ofwhich the following ing ribbon onto the articles by an impresis a specification. i

The inventionlrelates particularly to an addressing machineto be operated by hand, and it belongs to'that general type of machines in, which a series of address plates are fed one by one from a hopper-to the printing point, where the address is printed from said plate preferably through an ink sion head'orpad.

One objectof the invention is toinsure a proper hammer-like blow to the impression. head, "notwithstanding the fact that it isoperated by hand. For this purposethe impression arm or head is under a certain resistance during a-portion of its stroke,

which resistance must, of course,*be overcome by the operator applying SLIfliClGIllS power, and when the impression head reaches a certain point in its stroke it is section;

relieved from this resistance, and then the power which the operator continues to exert upon the impression headup to this point of its release from resistance will insure that the balance of the stroke of the impression head will be performed under sufficient force to insure the making of i proper-impression. Another object of the invention is to provide means'whereby the inking ribbon may be adjusted for bringing difierentportions thereof to the printing point. Other ob jeets of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The 1nvent1on consists in the features and combination and arrangement'of parts hereinafter described. and particularly set forth in the appended .clainis.

In the accompanying drawings V Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine; Fig. 2 is a View looking from'the'tront of Fig. 1, but in section along theline 2- 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig; 3 is a view looking from the left of Fig. 1, partly in elevation, partlyin in section.

In these drawings, 1 indicates the main bed or table having a runway for the address plates in its upper surface, said run way consisting,as shown in Fig. 3, of the grooves2,3. At one end of this runway there is a feed-chute 4: for the address plates,

and at theotherend of the runway there is a receiving hopper 5 intogwhich the address'plates are moved after being'used at the printing point. The groove 3 of the runway receives a feed chain 6 which passes over an idle wheel7, Fig. 2, which may be inthe formof a sprocket or a plain sheave, and the chain also passes over a sprocket wheel 8 located at the opposite end ot' the runway from the idle wheel 7. The feed chain has-projecting dogs 9 forengaging the lowermost plate in the feed chute. and moving this along the runway to the print ing point, and thence to the receiving hopper 5; The sprocket-wheel 8 is fixed on a shaft 9" which also has fixed thereon a disk or detent wheellO withwhichengages a detent roller 11, which is carried by an arm 12 pivoted to the frameat 13 and pressed by a spring 14, So that the roller 11 willengage either one of two notches in the detent disk. oneof which isshown at 11", and thus accurately determine the position of the feed sprocket 8, in its step by step movement. The notches in the detent disk are 180 apart, andwhen theaddress plate has reached "the exact printing position the detent or'locating roller has ente'redone of the notches in the face of the detent wheel, thus insuring the exact location of the address plate atthe moment of making the.

impression. Tliefeed chain may be tightened should it become loose by adjusting tliefsprocket 7 in relation to the sprocket 2,the pawl 31 will simply slip over the clogsor. dog of the feed chain without effect. The

mounted on the base or table by ears 19 mounted on a shaft or rod 20 supported in studs 21 of the frame. The impression arm has a handle or grip 22 at its upper free end to be grasped by the hand for operating the machine. An arm 23 projects from the impression arm or frame to a point below the table or base of the machine, and it has at its lower end a roller 24 which works in a slot 25 of a plate 26 which is fixed to a lever or arm 27, said lever being connected ivgtally at 2 8,to the frame. The lever at its free end carries a block 29 which embraces the lower strand or stretch of the plate feed chain, the connection between the lever and t e block ein by a P a slot 30, Fig e, sothat as the lever-27 is moved through its connection with the iml e-sacrum h b c 9 w ll be mo ed back and forth. and as this block carries a paw 3, rivetally n d th e n t and pressed by a spring 33, the movement of the block toward the right in Fig. 2 will cause the awl to engage one of the projectin dogs 9 of the plate feed chain 6 to give this chain a one-step movement for engaging and feeding an address plate from the feed chute 4. toward the impression point. As the arm 27 with the block 29. moves in the opposite direction or to the left of Fig.

plate 26 is curved corresponding to a portion of a sphere whose radius is equal to the length of the arm 23 from its p1vot pomt to its point of engagement with the plate.

The. pawl-carrying block 29 is guided to have reciprocating movement 111. a stralght lineparallel to, the feed chain by a universal bar34l attached'to the pawl-carrying block, and guided in brackets 35 suitably attached to the frame. The impression arm, together with the lever 27 universal slide bar 34: and pawl block, are returned to normal position when the impression arm is released by a spring 36. connected to the arm 37 projecting below the table, and connected with the impression arm at its upper end, the other end of the spring, as shown in Fig. 4:, being connected to the table or bed at 38. It will now be seen that when the impression arm is lowered the address plates will be fed along the runway, and

- y the relation of the partsis such that the movement of the plates along the runway will cease somewhat before the impression head completes its downward movement. This is due to the fact that the cam slot in the plate 26, is so formed that during the first part of the downward stroke of the impression head, or, say, while the im-. pression arm is making two-thirds of its downward stroke, the roller 24;, working in gh 9 sl t 2 w e mqve lthe ee ass enoughto. l llllg" while the address plate and its feeding mechanism remain at rest. As a result of his, it wi l. b see tha he mp ess on ar du ng the filfs t ol ir i n rd strokmavill be under theresistance of the plate feeding mechanism, and sufficient power must be applied bythe hand of the operator to overcome this resistance. When two-thirds of the stroke has been completed, however, andthe roller 24: begins tomove in the straight portion of the; slot 25, the resistance will he suddenly removed from the impression arm, and the force applied by the operator continuing will cause the im-. pression arm to descend sharply to apply a han'nneulikeblow, thus making a good 1mpression. It will, ofcourse, be-unders tood that the cam slot may be so cutas to secure a gradual starting of the plate feeding mechanism and a gradual stopping ofthe saine to overcome the tendency of the address plate to slip by the impression point owing to its momentum.

As a further means of arresting or.- lll'l'llll. ing the movement of the address plate feed-. ing chain, we provide a detent. 39pivoted at 40, Fig. 2, and pressed by a spring 41 to engage, the dogs 9 on the plate feeding chain. This detent is held out of operation when the pawl block 29 and universal bar 3-1 are at the leftward limit of theirstroke. by an arm orextension 42 which is lifted by the universal bar 3-l-to.thuspress backwa-rdly thedetent 39. The extension or arm 42 is mountedon a pawl-carrying arm t? hereinafterdescribed, which is free to turn that the pawl 31 will engage another dog 9 on the chain 6, the left hand end of the bar 324: will lift the pawl-carrying arm 43, and the extension 42,; and the latter, comingin contact with the detent Will m e itent a one .of its beveled pinions 48, 48, may be of the; path of the dog .9, so that when the next feeding action of the chain is to take place the detent 39 willpermit this to be done. Thepawlcarrying arm .43 forms part. of thefribbonmovement, its springpressed pawl 45 being arranged-to engage the ratchet 16 on :the shaft 44, so as to 'turn this shaft at each mo-v.emen t.ofthe barfid toward the. left, Fig. 2. Theshaft M is movable lengthwiseiiiits bearings by takinghold of the knob d7, Fig.4, so that either made to engage with its corresponding pinions 19,49, on :the shafts'of the ribbon spools 50, 50, from which spools the rib bon passesover the runway, as shown in Fig. 3, beingguided by rollers .51, v52. It will. be seen from the arrangement of the pawl. lever 43 and ratchet 4C6 that the shaft let; will be operated once for each movement of the impression arm upwardly, so

that the .inking ribbon willb'e fed past the lower-plate carriestlie ribbon spools, directprinting pointone stepfor each upward movementof tl'ieimpression arm. We show in Figs. 5 and 6 the preferred form of ink-j ing ribbon movement.

' Fastened to the table of the machine about the impression point is a thin plate53 having an openlngof proper size to. permit the' passage of the impression head. Above this plate is a second plate 54:, and in this latter plate slots 55 areformed at an angle of -.l5,='which are to change-the direction of the ribbon... The ribbon passes from" a spool 56 to. a directing roller 57 on the under side of theplates, and fromjthe'roller 57-it returns and passes through the slot- 55, thence across the printing point on the upper side of the platefiehthrough the opposite inclined slot.55,.and thence to the spool 58. The shafts of the spools 56 and 58 have beveled pinions 5 6, 58, to mesh with beveled pinions 59 and 60 on the shaft lat, which shaft carries. a ratchet wheel similar to that above described 46'. The shaft lcan be slid longitudinally to drive either one of the spools.. :The upper plate carries the slots55 above described,and the ing roller, and 1 operating mechanism for these spools. The upper plate isheld to the lower one by punched gibs 60, so that the upper plate may he slid forward or backward upon the lowerfplate in order to bring the desired portionof-the ribbon over the address late. The 0 enin 1n the u per-plate twice the width of the lower one. so as to: admit the passage of theimpression pad whether the plate is in its for ward or rearward position. It will be -understood that the portion of the ribbon which lies between the inclined slots 55 extends o-verthe runway for the address plates, and: hence over the address platey when in position to receivethe. impression.

It will be seen that the ribbon enters oneinclined slot from the front of the plate 54, whereason the other side it enters the other slot from the other direction, that is, from the rear'of the said plate 54, this being due to the employmentxof the idler roller 57.'

Thus it will be seen that the ribbon dcflected in'one direction at one slot 55, and in the other. direction at the other slot. The

Y purposeof this is to make the ribbon stretch Thisshank 62is connected with a bell crank lever 6ipivotally mounted on the side of the impression arm, said bell crank lever having its end adapted, when in one position, to engage an arrester consisting of a .meinberattached to thebase or fixed part ofthe frame. Normally, the finger button 61. is pressed forwardly by a spring 66, so that the bell cranklevei' 64 will be held in such a position that its end willnot strike the arrester 65 as the impression arm moves up, and therefore when the button 61 is not pressed the impression arm can rise and perform its full upward stroke, as a result of which the pawl 31 for the feed chain 6 will moveqfar enough to the left. Fig. 2,.to engage a fresh tooth on the feed chain, so that when the impression arm is moved down the address plate which has just been used will be moved from under the impressionhead "and a new one brought into position to be printed. When, however, it is desired to make two or more impressions from the sameplate, the button 61 is pressed by the thumb of the operator, being inconvenient position to be reached by the thumb ofthe same hand 'whlch grasps the handle ,the impression arm will .take place before it has imparted sufficient retracting movement to the carrier means of the pawl 81 to cause this pawl to engage a fresh tooth on the feed chain. Under these circumstances, when the impressionarm is arrested,it may be moved downwithout operating the feed chain. and by keepingthe button 61 pressed inwardly any number of impressions can be made from the samezplate. It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise mechanism shown and described.

It will be observed that the feed of the plates takes place along the table in a direction transverse to the direction of movementof the impression arm. Power from the pivwhich the impression-arm moves.

otal movementof the impression arm, however, is transmitted to the address plate feed chain to move it in a horizontal plane, and in a direction transverse to the plane in e claim as our invention 1. In combination in an addressing machine,a hand operated impression head, means for holding the address plates, and means for applying aresistance to the movement of. said impression head during a portion (of its downward stroke, and for removing said resistance during the finalpart of the downward stroke of the impression head toward the impression point, to produce a hammer blow substantially as described. p 2. In combination in an addressing machine, a hand operated impression head, an address plate feeder operated from said head during a partial movement of the same toward the impression point, said address plate feeder applying resistance to said impression head during its partial. stroke and removing said resistance during the final part of; the stroke toward the impression point, to cause the head to perform a ham m'er blow substantially as described.

3. In combination in an addressing machine, a hand operated impression member, an address plate feeder connected thereto 'tobe moved by the movement of said impression member on its way to the impres- S1011 polnt, and connections between the 1mpression member and the address plate feeder to arrest the address plate feeder and free the impression member from the resistance thereof when said impression member reaches a certain point in its stroke preceding the end of said stroke, to produce a hammer blow substantially as described.

4. In combination in an addressing machine,a hand operated impression member, an address plate feeder, and connections for operating the address plate feeder from the impression member to feed the plates to the impression point while the impression member ismovmg toward said pomt, substantially as described.-

5. In combination, in an addressing masaid cam, the said cam slot causing the movement of the address plate feeder durmg a part of the movement of the impression head toward the impression point, and

stopping the movement of the address plate plate feeder movable along. the table,.con-" nections between the pivoted impression arm and the address platefeeder to move the said feeder toward the impression point during a part of the downward movement or impression stroke of the pivoted arm, andto terminate said feeding movement when the impression arm reaches an intermediate point in its impression stroke, substantially as described. i

8. In combination a pivoted impression arm, an address plate feeder, a table along which the feeder moves the plates, said feeder consisting of an endless chain, connections between. the feeder and the pivoted impression arm consistingof a reciprocating lever, and a pawl connected therewith en gaging projections on the feed chain, sub stantially as described .9. In combination with the pivoted impression arm, a table, an endless feed chain movable along the table to feed the plates, connections between the impression arm and the feed chain for operating the same, adetent to engage the feed chain, and .means operated by the said connections for controlling the position ofthe said detent, substantially as described.

10. In combination, an impression arm,

an address plate feeder consisting of an end; less chain having feed dogs thereon, connections between the impression arm and the feed chain consisting of a lever and a pawl, said pawl engaging the'dogs on the chain, a d'etent for engaging the dogson the chain, and means for controllingthe said detent from the said connections, substantially as. described.

11. In combination an impression arm, an address plate feeder consisting of an endless chain having feed dogs thereon, connections between the impression arm and the feed chain consisting of a lever and a pawl, said pawl engaging the dogs on the chain, a detent for engaging the dogs on the chaln, and means for controlling the said detent from the said connectlons, said controlling means consisting of a slide bar,

substantially as described@ 12.111 combination a table, an impression arm pivotally mounted at the rear of the table and adapted lSQbB swung downwardly and toward the front of the table in making for the printing plates,.a feeder operating along the runway in a directiontransverse to the direction of movement-of the impression arm, a handle at the free end of the-inn pression arm, a reciprocatory member having movement along a substantially rectilinear path for operating the feeder and a lever beneath the table moving about a vertical pivot, said lever being operated from the pivoted end of the impression arm and connected with the reciprocatory member, substantially as described.

13. In combination with an. impression armpivotally mounted, a table, an address plate feeder moving along said table in a direction transverse to the vertical plane in which the impression arm moves, an arm extending below the pivot of the impression arm to move therewith, a pivoted lever below the table movable in a horizontal plane, a connection between the horizontally movable lever and the'address plate feeder, and a connection between the horizontally movable lever andthe arm connected witlr-the impression arm-for imparting the movement ofthe impression arm to the horizontal le ver and address plate feeder,substantially as described.

14. In combination in" a printing apparatus, a table, a feeder for moving printing plates along said table to the impression point, a hand operated impression member movable toward and from the impression point on said table, and a lost motion connection extending from the impression member to the plate feeder for operating said feeder, said impression member having lost motion during the latter part of the downward stroke thereof, and during the first part of its upward stroke without imparting movement to said plate feeder whereby the feeder will remain at rest while the said impression member is performing the idle portion of its movement in order that multiple impressions may be taken from the same printing plate by the operator limiting the length of stroke of the im pression member, substantially as described.

15. In combination in a printing apparatus, a'table, a feeder for moving printing plates along said table to the impression point, a hand operated impressionmember V movable toward andfrom the impression point on said table, a lost motion connection extending from the'impression member to said feeder for operating said feeder, said impression. member. having lost motion during the latter part of the downward stroke thereof, and during the first part of its upward stroke without imparting movement to the plate feeder whereby the feeder will remain at rest while the said impression member is performing the idle portion of its'movement in order that multiple impressions may be taken from the same printing plate by the operator limiting the stroke of the impression member and means for limiting the movement of the impression head to its idle stroke, substantially as described.

16. In combination a table, an impression member movable toward and from the same, an address plate feeder with connections for operating the same from the impression arm, said connections being set in position to operate the feeder only when the impression arm performs a full retracting stroke from the impression point the last part of the downward stroke and the first part of the upward stroke of said head being idle in respect to its effect on the plate feeder, and means for limiting any desired retracting stroke of the impression member to prevent the operating connections being set in position to operate the address plate feeder on the next impression stroke whereby multiple impressions may be taken from the same address plate, substantially as described. y

17. In combination in an addressing machine, an impression member, a table, an address plate feeder to move the plates along the same, said impression member having movement toward and from the said table, connections for operating the address plate feeder including a pawl which retracts to engage the address plate feeder only when the impression member performs a full retracting stroke the last part of the down ward stroke and the first part of the upward stroke of said head being idle in re spect to its efiect on the plate feeder, and means for shortening any desired retracting stroke of the impression member to limit it to its idle movement and thereby to prevent operation of the address plate feeder on the next impression stroke of the impression member, substantially as described.

18. In combination in an addressing machine, atable, an address plate feeder, a hand operated impression member, connec-. tions for operating the address plate feeder which are get only upon the full stroke of the impression member away from the printing point the last part of the downward movement and the first part of the upward movement of said member being idle in respect to any operation of the feeder, and a device for limiting any desired retracting stroke of the impression member, said device being carried partly by the impression member adjacent the hand held thereon, to, be operated by the same hand which operates said impression member, substantially as described.

19. In combination in an addressing machine, a pivotally mounted impression arm,

a table, an address plate feeder, connections for operating the address platefeeder from the impression arm, said connections being set only when the impression armperforms a full retracting stroke,a detent on the ta ble, and a finger operated detent on the impression arm to engage the table detent for limiting any desired retracting stroke of the impression arm, substantially as described.

20. In combination an impression arm, a table, an address plate feeder, connections between the impression arm and the address plate feeder for operating the latter, said connections including an oscillating lever, inking ribbon mechanism, and means for operating the same consisting of a slide bar connected with the oscillating lever, substantially as described.

21. Incombination an address plate feeder, a detent for the same, inking ribbon mechanism, connections for operating the address plate feeder consisting of an oscillating lever, and a slide barv operated from said lever, said slide bar operating the inking ribbon mechanism and the said detent, substantially as described.

22.- In combination in an addressing machine, a table, an impression arm movable toward and from the table, an address plate feeder, a detent for said feeder, inking ribbon mechanism, including a pawl and carrier and a ratchet, connections for operating the address plate feeder, and a member operated by said connections for controlling the pawl carrier and the detent, substantially as described.

23. In combination a manually operated impression member, an address plate feeder, and connections between the impression member and the address plate feeder for operating the said feeder during a part of the impression stroke, by which the head is placed under resistance, and is released. from said resistance, when the feeder stops, at an intermediate point in its impression stroke, to then deliver a hammer-blow in making the impression, substantially as described.

24. A manually operated pivotally mount- .ed impression member, an address plate feeder, and connections between the impression member and the address plate feeder for operating the said feeder during a part of the impression stroke, by which the head is placed under resistance and is released from said resistance, when the feeder stops, at an intermediate point in its impression stroke, to then deliver a ham- Washing mer-blow in making the impression, subarranged to one side of said course, guides directing the ribbon at right angles from its position over the feeder to the spools, and means for operatingthe ribbon spools from the said lever, substantially as described;

26. In combination a pivoted impression arm, a hopper for the printing plates, a table having a runway for the plates, a feeder for moving the plates from the hopper along the runway to the printing point, said feeder having a series ofdogsfor engaging and spacing the plates thereon, a connection between the feeder and the pivoted impression arm to move said feeder toward the impression point during a part of the downward movement of the impression stroke of the pivoted arm, and to terminate said feeding movement when the impression arm reaches an intermediate point inits impression stroke, substantially as described.

27. Aprinting apparatus comprising a series of individual printing plates, a hopper for the plates, a table, a plate feeder. for moving the plates along thetable to the im pression point, and impression means capable of long and short reciprocating movement to and from the impression point, said impression means being operatirely connect-ed with the. plate feeder only during its longer reciprocation to thereby feed the plates, said impression means allowing the plate feeder to remain idle during the shorter reciprocations of said head whereby multiple impressions may be made from the same plate.

In testimony whereof, we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

JESSE H, OVERMAN. J DRAM A. ZIEGLER. lVitnesses G. L. HENDERSON, H. TLPATTON'.

five cents each, byfaddressing the "Commissioner of Patents.

ton, D. 0. 

